


Storm Coast Beach

by zevsky



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: M/M, Random & Short, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 22:27:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20628536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zevsky/pseuds/zevsky
Summary: The season of summer brings the Inquisitor and Dorian to the Storm Coast Beaches. Cullen is not very pleased that the Inquisitor chose to go on vacation without telling him, but Josephine tries to explain his reasoning to him as calmly and discreetly as possible.





	Storm Coast Beach

**Author's Note:**

> I see this snippet of text more as an exercise than anything else. I've been inspired by the novel "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which a friend of mine was so kind to gift me for my 18. birthday. With every page I was more fascinated by his ability to not only describe situations, feelings and sensations so vividly it feels like you're there, but also to describe them in a way you *want* to feel it and experience it. It truly is a pleasure to read and everyone interested should read it because of that reason, specifically.
> 
> Anyway, I'm no way near as talented as Fitzgerald in his craft, nor am I a native speaker, so my ability to describe things and stuffs vividly is limited because of my frankly limited vocabulary, but I want to practice a bit despite that fact.
> 
> Be prepared for a mostly descriptive narration rather than a plot and action filled one.  
Have a nice read~

A cool, refreshing breeze on a warm afternoon in the midst of summer brushed over the water, gently accompanying it up until the coast to break on stony cliffs or rocky beaches, shaping both to their liking. Boats, tied to flocks near the coast line, went up and down to the rhythm of the water the wind gave.

The Storm Coast has never been a very quiet place as the name suggests, but occasionally, when the rain and thunder growling overhead stopped during summer, it turned into a inconspicuous paradise, overlooked by many, especially those who blindly trusted the wild and unnerving reputation it had. As if through some kind of miracle, the whole coast went quiet for a time. No storms, no tourists, no dragons nor templars, just the calming breeze and her waves, for the lonely visitor's delight.

-

"Where's the Inquisitor? By the Maker, he would never skip any meeting at the war table!", Cullen complained. He already started talking before opening the door to Josephine's humble bureau, where she sat at her table, writing letters as always. The golden sunlight through the lonely window made shadows dance on the wall opposite to it; it would have been a peaceful afternoon if the Commander wasn't throwing a fit.

Josephine carefully put her quill back into the ink glass with a graceful motion of her hand as if she was scared to shatter it. She looked at him with that calming look of hers, radiating the same energy the bright sunlight did, a look that tamed every tough man and Cullen suddenly wasn't so enraged anymore.

"He excused himself and seized this particular day to travel to the Storm Coast. To visit the beaches."

He had left last night to arrive this noon.

"The Storm Coast? I thought he didn't like the summer, nor...beaches?"

He really never was a fan of the warmer temperatures of the season, as he was more comfortable in the cold.

When the summers were especially warm like this one, Inquisition soldiers and messengers were allowed a short uniform. Even the advisors took this opportunity to change their usual attire to more airy and lighter clothes. Only the Inquisitor did not. He felt most comfortable when he could cover most of his body and at best he ditched some layers of his heavy leather outfits to show off his arms up to his elbows but nothing more. A reserved and passive, yet strong leader would not have to show anything more than that; it would take away a certain part of his reserved and respectful nature.

"Did he travel alone? Did he arrive safely?", Cullen tried to inform himself.

-

And a lonely visitor's delight it was. Aurel had just settled down in a very specific place, rolled out a blanket and unpacked his sketchbook along with a travel quill and ink glass as well as a silverpoint. He spot he chose was up a small hill just at the coastline with a few trees behind him, silently humming the melody of the summer breeze just like the water did, waving up and down like the boats on it. Nature was harmonious. Everything there is as it should be. No creature raised by it would rush towards any particular goal like humans and elves and dwarves and Qunari did; nature doesn't give a tempo, just a rhythm felt in the water and the wind and the trees and you could follow it as quickly or slowly as you wanted to. This freedom ensured this particular harmony and peace and it is what drew the Inquisitor to this specific location on this particular day.

"Are you enjoying the view from here, Amatus?"

He had traveled with his lover well through the night, quickly, but without haste.

"Greatly", he answered, lost in thought. Not only did he enjoy the view, he enjoyed being free from responsibility and power and war and intrigue and suffering and the running towards a certain goal way too quickly without any reason to.

Dorian understood what pulled the Inquisitor here, for their misery was the same, experienced and coped with differently. It wasn't the summer, not the season itself, not the beaches, not the happy and blissful culture around it. It had been on their shared bucket list for quite some time: visiting the Storm Coast on a particularly calm afternoon, catching the song of nature and perhaps the Maker himself in insufficient drawings and disappointing memories, when remembered months and years after.

So the Inquisitor sat and he took his quill and he began drawing the landscape from where he was sitting, capturing the cliffs and rocks and the water and the boats and the meadows and trees and the wind and the birds and any other creature that would add onto his own little world. Dorian sat beside him with a thick, old book he wasn't interested in at all and and old, bad wine he didn't want to drink. That didn't matter however, as everything he did together with Aurel automatically was enjoyable and refreshing. Even when apart, you could feel that the two of them weren't so lonely like the boat near the shoreline and the window in Josephine's bureau.

Just a bit later they took a walk down at the beach, enjoying it in their own, reversed and passive way. They both were content and frankly already a little drowsy from the walk and so they kissed one last time before the sun vanished behind the horizon just a little later than it would have at Skyhold. They made their way back to their horse and hert and traveled just before the night began to arrive at Skyhold just before noon the next day.

-

"Why wasn't I told? Why do I have to be the idiot who has to ask?", Cullen complained again.

"With your intense anger and nervousness, he would have felt your rage even at the Storm Coast I'm afraid", Josephine chuckled, "perhaps you should have followed him. The beaches at the Storm Coast around this time of the year can be truly therapeutic."

"He could take the whole Inquisitions staff with him then."

Josephine watched the lively shadows and light rays dance on the wall before she answered: "Let him enjoy one day at the beach, in a way he prefers. Perhaps it's not so much about summer and the beach itself, but who he is with."

She smiled. Cullen scratched the back of his head as he understood what she meant and left the room, leaving Josephine to continue her work.


End file.
